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Contents

About

Masi was born in Tokyo, Japan, but his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 6 years old. He has an I.Q. of over 180, and is gifted with many artistic talents.

Along with standard elementary school, he attended Saturday school in L.A. where he learned English, U.S. history, etc. He graduated in 1997 from Brown University with a major in Computer Science and Mathematics and a minor in Theatre Arts.

Masi spent a number of years working for visual effects studios, most notably George Lucas's "Industrial Light & Magic." During this time he worked on such popular films as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, War of the Worlds and Star Wars (Episodes I - III). He has indicated that he worked in programming the tools that the artists use in CGI special effects.

Masi has acted in a number of popular television series and films such as Without a Trace, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Reno 911!, Robot Chicken, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Get Smart, Fired Up!, and Hawaii Five-0. He also wrote the short film Chester's Big Night.

Notes

For his work on Heroes, Masi won a "Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series" Saturn Award in 2006. Among other awards, he was nominated for an Emmy for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" and a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television" in 2007. His character, Hiro Nakamura, was nominated as the "Favorite TV Character (Viewer's Choice)" by the Spaceys Awards in 2007. Masi won the "Best Actor in a TV Drama" Diversity Award in 2009.

On January 29, 2007, Masi appeared on an episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in which he spoofed Heroes.

On May 15, 2007, Masi appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to present a top ten list entitled "Top Ten Surprises In The Heroes Season Finale".

Masi mainly use the name "Franklin", This is his character name in Scrubs, and his name when he's an extra in The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.

Trivia

Masi appeared on the cover of a 1987 edition of Time magazine, next to the caption "Those Asian-American Whiz Kids!" Though he was not mentioned in the article, he knew the photographer, which was how he got in the shot.

He and fellow cast member Milo Ventimiglia enjoy going to New York Rangers games. Both are die-hard fans.

Masi Oka told Boston Herald that he is personally trained in Kendo, a type of Japanese sword fighting.

Masi told SFX that he often translates his own scripts, "making sure I use the correct colloquialisms, whatever is appropriate for the time. I study the Japanese media and use a language that would be correct for Hiro."

On November 1, 2007, Masi Oka was named the global ambassador for One Laptop per Child, a non-profit organization which "provides children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express". Of interest, a child in Bhutan uses the XO laptop (The Last Shangri-La), which is the laptop given by OLPC to children in developing countries.

External Links

Masi Oka drew this picture of his character in order to raise money for the Pediatric Epilepsy Project.